554th RHS lock up 736th SFS, secure second intramural football title

ANDERSEN AIR FORCE BASE, Guam -- In a defensive struggle lasting well into the final minutes, the 554th RED HORSE Squadron's intramural flag football team defeated the 736th Security Forces Squadron's team, 10-0, in the base intramural football championship game April 29 at the quarter mile track and field here.

The win marked the second consecutive championship for the 554th RHS. More than 50 squadron members, family members and friends of players stood or sat in the stands and loudly and proudly showed support for their team.

Throughout the game, penalties and dropped passes cost both teams crucial opportunities to take control of the game. The RHS defense became the difference-maker, forcing three interceptions by 736th SFS Quarterback Aaron Karwoski.

"Our defense wins us championships," said Robert Davis, 554th RHS coach. "Last year, our defense won us a championship and as you can see, they just won us a championship. We have a good quarterback. We had to make a change, but we still had a good quarterback and we ran the ball well."

Ryan Halter, wide receiver and cornerback for the 554th RHS, made two of the defense's biggest plays of the night. He made one interception with an impressive sideline catch where he fully extended his body out of bounds while keeping both feet on the opposite edge of the sideline. His second interception in the 554th RHS end zone ended a potential scoring drive for 736th SFS.

"My first interception was close to the end of the half," Halter said. "I knew they were going to throw it. As soon as I saw the ball in the air, I knew I could just go up and get it. I looked down to make sure I could keep my feet in bounds and came up with the interception."

The 736th SFS defense came into the game looking to stop the 544th RHS pass offense, but they were unable to contain 554th RHS Quarterback Michael Rich, who racked up more than 120 yards rushing and a touchdown on the team's final drive of the game.

"They were covering my big-play receivers pretty good," Rich said. "There were holes in the defense, so I just ran the ball. We didn't want to turn the ball over because if we turn the ball over, we'd lose. We wanted to keep the clock running, score a couple points and finish the game."

Despite coming up short in the end, the 736th SFS stuck with their gameplan and fought valiantly until the very end.

"RED HORSE is a good team and overall, it was a good game," said Antquil Cage, wide receiver for the 736th SFS. "They like to do a lot of short plays and we did a good job of containing them. We came out to stop their short passes and stop them from going over the middle. We just made a couple of bad plays and it cost us the game."